CallNote vs Claras

Both are Australian-hosted file note tools, built for different jobs. Claras records or uploads your meeting and writes the note for financial advisers. CallNote receives a transcript your phone or meeting system already made and writes a compliant note for brokers.

CallNote vs Claras at a glance

If you are an Australian professional comparing CallNote and Claras, here is the short version: they are both built in Australia, both keep your data in Australia, and both turn a client conversation into a written file note. The difference is in how they get the words, and who each one is really for.

Claras is an established tool for financial advisers, built by Knkt Digital. CallNote is a transcript-only note tool with mortgage brokers as the lead vertical. This is an honest comparison, not a takedown. Claras is genuinely good at what it does. The point of this page is to help you work out which job you are actually trying to do.

The real difference: recording vs receiving a transcript

This is the one thing that separates the two tools, so it is worth getting right.

Claras records or uploads your meeting, then transcribes it and writes the note. In practice you either let it capture the meeting or you upload a recording, and Claras does the rest. It redacts personal information before the AI processes it, which is a sensible privacy step.

CallNote works the other way around. It never records, never sends a bot to the call, and never transcribes audio. It receives a transcript that already exists, for example the one your phone system or meeting platform produced, and generates the note from that. You get the transcript into CallNote in one of four ways that are live today: paste it in, forward it by email to a unique address, upload a voice memo (transcribed via Deepgram or Whisper), or connect Dialpad so every call transcript becomes a note automatically.

Both keep your data in Australia

This is where the two tools actually agree, and it is a real strength for both. A lot of the well-known note takers (Otter, Fireflies, Fathom, Granola) are hosted in the US. For an Australian broker or adviser handling client financials, that can be a problem before you even look at features.

Claras states that your data never leaves Australia and holds SOC 2 certification, with Australian Privacy Principles handling and PII redaction before AI processing. CallNote is hosted in AWS Sydney, AES-256 encrypted, and is never used to train AI models. So on data residency, you can pick either with confidence. The decision comes down to the workflow around it, not where the servers sit.

Different verticals: advisers vs brokers

Claras is built for financial advisers and it shows in the right places. Its XPlan (IRESS) integration is the standout. If your practice runs on XPlan, having file notes flow into the system you already live in is a strong reason to choose Claras, and it is the kind of integration advisers genuinely rely on. It also connects to Salesforce and Microsoft 365.

CallNote leads with mortgage brokers and the NCCP. That changes what is in the box:

• An NCCP loan-suitability note template that uses the s130 'not unsuitable' standard, plus a broker declaration.
• Per-state recording-consent scripts for all 8 states and territories, because recording-consent law is not the same in NSW as it is in Victoria or Queensland.
• An append-only audit log and SHA-256 sealed lodged notes, so a lodged note cannot be quietly changed later. Amendments are appended and logged.

So the honest framing is different tools for different jobs. An adviser deep in XPlan will likely be happier in Claras. A broker who needs an NCCP file note and works mostly by phone will likely be happier in CallNote.

How you write the note

Both tools follow the same basic loop: a conversation goes in, a structured note comes out, you check it, and you save it. With CallNote the action language is Generate, Review, Lodge and Lock. You generate the note from the transcript, review and edit the draft, then lodge and lock it so it becomes the sealed record. The whole thing takes about two minutes and saves roughly 10 minutes of write-up per call.

CallNote also lets you build your own prompt and house style rather than fitting yourself into one fixed template. If your file notes have a particular structure your licensee expects, you can shape the output to match it. Claras leans on its adviser-specific structure, which is exactly what a lot of advisers want, so again this comes back to which job you are doing.

Pricing, honestly

All figures here are AUD and current as of mid-2026, so check both sites for the latest before you decide.

Claras pricing (according to their site): a pay-as-you-go plan at $50/month for 4 notes, and an Unlimited plan at $139/month per adviser, with assistant seats around $39/month. The pay-as-you-go option is handy if you only write a few notes a month.

CallNote pricing: Solo is $149/month flat (or $127/month billed annually), and Team is $99/seat/month (or $84/seat annually). Every plan includes unlimited notes, and there is a 14-day free trial with no credit card. See the full breakdown on the pricing section.

If your volume is low, Claras pay-as-you-go is cheaper to start. If you write notes after most of your calls, CallNote's flat unlimited pricing tends to work out better, and the free trial lets you check that against your real call load before paying.

So which one should you pick?

Pick Claras if you are a financial adviser, you run on XPlan, and you are comfortable with a tool that records or uploads the meeting. It is established, AU-hosted, adviser-specific, and the XPlan link is hard to beat for that audience.

Pick CallNote if you are a mortgage broker (or another call-heavy professional like a buyer's agent, lawyer or accountant), you want an NCCP-shaped file note with per-state consent scripts and a sealed audit trail, and you would rather your tool never handle audio at all. The phone angle matters here too: with Dialpad live and voice memo and paste, CallNote is built for phone calls, not just video meetings.

If you are weighing up US-built adviser tools as well, our CallNote vs Zocks comparison covers a no-recording option built around US adviser CRMs, and how the Australian compliance picture differs. You can also see the full comparison hub for every tool side by side, or start a free trial and run your own calls through CallNote first.